It’s no newsflash that social media can be a big benefit for nonprofits looking to raise awareness and money. And some of my favorite places to find resources, innovative ideas and opportunities have most recently come from Facebook groups.
Other social mediums like LinkedIn and Twitter are also very valuable sources of information for my not-for-profit clients and friends, but lately I’m all about Facebook groups and exploring them (and since we’re talking about it, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter if you like) Quite simply – the wealth of knowledge, experience and resources the folks participating in Facebook groups possess is pretty amazing.
It was through social media and a Facebook group that I learned of the Center for Nonprofit Success, whose mission is to provide training, resources and knowledge to help nonprofits succeed. The Center also provides consulting services and has a mentoring program that matches mentors with mentees, as well as a job bank.
You can find some valuable case study information on their website which are designed as an in-depth look at some specifics – things like a nonprofit’s project, tactic or trend, what happened, what worked, what didn’t and the like. The topics they address are broad – things like board management, fundraising and grant writing, communication and marketing and volunteer management, to name a few.
One of the best things about the Center for Nonprofit Success is that they put on events all over the country. If you’re a social media, marketing or PR pro who might be interested in speaking at one of their events, you can get more information here.
And, of course, if you’re interested in attending one of their events, you can check their calendar for an event in a city near you. Here are just a few samples of the kinds of topics they cover and the events they put on:
Volunteer Management 101: How to Build a Strong and Healthy Volunteer Program (Seattle, 1/11/2011)
Strategic Alliances 101: How to Forge Strong and Healthy Relationships with Strategic Partners (Minneapolis, 1/13/2011)
Social Media Summit (Chicago, 4/06/2011)
Financial Management 101: Best Practices for Managing Your Organization’s Finances (Boston, 5/12/2011)
If you’re running, working for or with a nonprofit or sit on a board of a nonprofit, I’ll bet you’ll find the Center for Nonprofit Studies a valuable resource. And thanks to the world of social media for dropping it into my lap so that I could drop it into yours.